1
Feb 11, 2024
Hi all. I’m looking for some help. I’ve tried lots of bras and still cannot find ABTF. I’ll list all that I’ve tried. The calculator estimates me to be a 34E, soft tissue, short roots, in need of wide underwires.
Freya Fancies Plunge 34E and 34F- too projected and tall
Montelle Demi Flirt 34E and 34F-too tall, found straps to be too wide, wrinkling at the bottom of the cup, redness where the gore sits
B’tempted Ciao Bella 34DDD-too narrow, underwire sitting on tissue, straps were too tight, spilling out of cup
Panache Ana 34E-gore painfully digging in, cups too projected, too narrow
Skarlett Blue Mix 34DDD-straps seemed too wide, wrinkling at bottom of cups, seemed almost too shallow, too narrow.
Skarlett Blue Entice-34DDD & 34G- too shallow in the cups.
Sized down to 34DD-too narrow, underwire poking me, cups still wrinkled towards the bottom
Freya Cameo High Apex 34E-too projected in the cups, super stiff underwire and not sitting in IMF at all
Freya Offbeat Side Support 34DD-Overall too small for me
Sized up to a 34E-Too projected, strap twisting on one side, felt underwire pressing against me, not sitting in IMF and kept feeling like I needed to adjust the bra, wrinkling in cups as well. But ultimately my closest match in terms of cup height and width.
Panache Clara in 34E, too narrow and tall in the gore/cups.
Wacoal Nearly Nothing Plunge Bra in 34DD, 32DDD, and 34DDD too big in the cups, wrinkling near bottom of cups. Originally this one seemed ok in 34DD, and I was wearing it for awhile but it slowly got uncomfortable the more I would wear it, fabric of the bra is folding under/over itself. The right side digs in, it feels like it’s sort of digging in the gore area and where the front of the bra band it feels like it’s pressing inwards?
Chantelle Norah in 34DD. It felt good for about a day and now the gore is pressing into me on my left side only, and a bit underneath my boob as well, my nipple sort of seems squished in the cup. I pulled the bra down in the last picture and circled where it’s irritating me.
VS lovecloud half pad plunge in 34DD (i know🤦🏻♀️i was desperate) In the armpit and ribcage area? It’s more the left cup than anything, it’s started to cut under my armpit and the cup shifts around if that makes sense? I have to be careful not to have a nip slip but it’s only the left side.
Natori (I’m not sure what models because these were tried at a fitter, too small in cups and narrow) I think she had me in 34DD-DDD.
Montelle Sublime- 34E underwire not sitting in IMF, too narrow, again felt irritating on smaller side.
Wacoal Halo Lace in 36D- I went to a fitter and she suggested this was a good fit, I actually bought it but I’ll be returning it, too narrow overall and uncomfortable on my smaller side (it was suggested maybe the wire was too wide and causing irritation in my fit check). Gore was slightly lifted on my larger side.
Understance 34DDD- Zoe, Simone, Sierra, Penny, Harper. Too tall, shape mismatches in most of these. Harper and Sierra, were too big. Simone looked good in terms of cup height and same with Zoe although it leaned taller than Simone. The shape was close in Simone and Penny.
Filed under Bras ups and downs
Maybe Freya expression demi in 34DD or 34E? It has wide-ish wires. I own it in 34DD so measurements are available here on bratabase. It is called demi plunge but does not really have a plunge. Model is a combination of Freya Deco + Idol.
Like many brands throwing this term around carelessly, Freya expression Demi is neither demi or plunge at all but just another shallow tall moulded balconette like all the others. I'm currently wishing we'd not bought it for my short & wide rooted teen as the alterations to make the shallow tall thing work, feel endless so far. I only like the fabrics and honestly with the shape problems from Freya lying about what the style is, not sure it's worth even those. It's hard to find a good halfcup-plunge hybrid for shorter breasts!
Throwing out some thoughts here, I can only think of 2 plunge halfcup hybrids offhand, Ewa Michalak CH (discontinued) and Panache Rocha which are both cut quite short, full and open on top, which can be a problem if one hasn't tall upper roots to fill the hem out. Potentially something in the Prima Donna Twist line, but those can be quite pricey to track down, and hard to fit if between sizes as french brands have huge jumps between cup sizes. If you've not tried already, it's worth copying down data from the styles you've tried (best gore height, best cup width, best cup height, etc) and plunking those measurements here into a search to find what may come up with similar stats. I'm assuming the size you are after is American 34E/34DDD? That will make a big difference in fit as some makers only use UK sizing and will give a very different cup size from what you'd need! From what I understand most in of what's in your list are pretty shallow in the bottom of the cup (only projected at the top, which is too tall and will cause you troubles). Are you seeking 'push up' styles which may be fighting the connective tissue in your IMF area? Feel about under your breast near you chest wall and see if that zone isn't more resistant than the rest of your breasts- that could be a key issue to watch out for (seek styles that are better suited for 'bottom full' to try, if so).
There's other factors that can throw off where the cups sit on your body causing them to feel too narrow, such as having a high set root, or roots that extend around your sides underneath the armpits. Often others have huge problems with that last one! Do you happen to have rather small shoulders? High belly or flared ribs? Tall or short torso height? Bra frame shape made for your general anatomy might be a bigger factor in finding a tolerable fit as well- all brands tend to make a general band & frame shape, then carry a range of cup styles beyond that. Curvy Kate does a large variety of cup shapes all for shorter roots, and somewhat better at keeping the straps from wandering off to the side (as a super short, full oval shape, I prefer their ellace and vegas but both are discontinued). Flirtelle is their outlet brand that does similar shorter with average to wide wires as well. Parfait tend to have good strap placement and make decent range of different bra styles but can be limited for multiple fit needs. I'm not sure but in your range you might be just outside of Elomi- they do many fairly wide short wired plunge styles, despite their 'high apex' the upper cup tends to stay out of the way & be less prone to 'too wide' straps. A long shot but weirdly this one has worked very well for 3 of us with the same fit troubles- Ewa Michalak are best known for narrow wires, however the volume in the cups is much better proportioned than in other brands and the top of the wires tend to 'spring' outward wider, which then lifts the bottom of their cups upward gently, rather than the typical commercial method of super shallow cups with tall diagonal cup bottoms that instantly ride down and squish breast out of the cup where their very hard immobile wires digging like mad into tender tissue (not many companies have tried copying the wire spring, drawbridge lift effect despite it being one of the oldest, & effective concepts in bramaking design). EM's cup styles range from petite full (M and 3DM cut- only made in smaller letter sizes which you are in), top full (SF cut), bottom full (BM cut), very short rooted (PL plunge style), moderately short rooted + squishy tissue (S cut) and the sister style, SM (same pattern but designed in sheer mesh). Polish brands in general tend to do slightly shorter cups in varying widths and shapes, Ava and Gaia aren't perfect but quite affordable for wider short breasts- you might find a good match in the recorded styles here should you choose to research them.